Labour market information

Germany - Sachsen

Short overview of the labour market

Saxony is a federal state in the east of Germany. It borders the states of Brandenburg to the north, Saxony-Anhalt to the north-west, Thuringia to the west and Bavaria to the south-west. The state also shares a border with the Czech Republic to the south and with Poland to the east. The state capital is Dresden. With a population of some 4.1 million and an area of about 18 400 km2, Saxony is one of Germany's smaller federal states.

In December 2017, the unemployment rate in Saxony was 6.2%, the national rate being 5.3%. Saxony therefore has the eighth-lowest unemployment rate when compared with other regions of Germany.

In June 2017, a total of 1 580 184 people were employed in jobs subject to social security deductions. This represented a year-on-year increase of 1.6% in the number of people employed in jobs subject to social security deductions.

The main sources of employment in Saxony in the middle of 2017 included:

Office and secretarial work

Business organisation and strategy

Warehouse management, post, delivery and goods handling

In percentage terms, the strongest jobs growth between June 2016 and June 2017 was recorded in the following sectors:

ICT (+5.8%)

Residential care and social work activities (+4.9%)

Temporary employment agency activities (+2.9%)

However, between June 2016 and June 2017 there was a decline in jobs in agriculture, forestry and fisheries (-2.7%) and in the finance and insurance services sector (-2.5%).